The United States on Thursday pledged $421 million in humanitarian assistance to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which oversees the displaced international population, including 4.8 million Syrians due to the Islamic State’s increasing control in Syria.
The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration funded the initial contribution to UNHCR, bringing the current U.S total for fiscal year 2016 to nearly $700 million. U.S. spending for UNHCR in 2015 surpassed $1.3 billion and the government said it will continue assisting the agency throughout the year, but did not say if it plans to pass last year’s amount.
Funding will go toward the protection, local integration and resettlement efforts of refugees from countries like Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will also go toward other necessities, including water, shelter, food, healthcare and education for millions of displaced people in Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Colombia, South Sudan and Kenya.
“The international community is currently witnessing a refugee crisis of global proportions,” State said in a statement Thursday. “The world faces enormous challenges today, as millions of refugees seek the dignity and safety that can only be achieved through an unprecedented global response.”
State officials encouraged other nations to follow its example. As of this week, only 25 percent of UNHCR’s 2016 global request for funds has been met.
